Nora added a sniffle at the end of her story, hoping to seem pitiful. But when she looked up at his face, he remained unmoved, except for the frown that was more pronounced than the earlier one. It was not much, but it was a start.
She sat up straighter and leaned forward, determined to push him further into feeling sad.
“I-It reminds me of another story that devastated me! My goodness, it happened so long ago, I can scarcely remember all the details, but I am sure it will come to me as I tell you. You see… when I was a girl, there was a-a stray cat! Or was it a dog? Oh, I believe it was a puppy. A poor little thing. I’d seen it roaming around the grounds of our estate a few times, and I had begged my father to let me keep it as a pet. He would always tell me that he would much rather put me out on the streets to live with the mutt than let it into his home. Anyway, I used to feed it scraps of food whenever I could. My father caught me and tried to punish me by denying me dinner, but it did not matter. I was determined to help the sad little creature. One afternoon, my sister and I were taking a walk, and we spotted a group of boys clamoring around something. When we drew closer, they saw my sister and ran away, and we were able to see the poor creature. They had been throwing stones at the little thing. I was so devastated, I wept for days. Truly a sad, sad thing to have witnessed at the tender age of… thirteen. Or nine. Whichever makes it sadder.”
Nora inhaled deeply, hoping that she had managed to strike him in the heart this time. And to her credit, he was now wearing a different expression from the one he had earlier. Except that now, he was looking at her as though she had lost her mind.
“Did the dog die?” he enquired after a beat of silence.
“I – did he? I don’t think so.” She stated weakly.
“I see. You have been through quite a handful of sad events. My condolences.”
Nora’s frustration reached a fever pitch, and she had to clutch her tea cups with both hands to keep herself from flinging an éclair at his face.
“None of them are quite as sad as my current predicament, seeing as I am stuck spending my season with a block of ice. Unfeeling, emotionless, and cold.” She exclaimed in annoyance.
Godric sighed and shook his head.
“Is that what you were trying to do? Invoke some sort of… emotion? It does not surprise me that you failed. You are far too ignorant to understand the feelings of a man.” He said bluntly.
Nora sat up straighter at his last statement. He had just mentioned feelings, which meant he understood them to an extent and also was capable of experiencing and portraying them. He only had to tell her what would pull the strings of his feelings and cause them to manifest.
“Tell me more about these… feelings men have. Perhaps it is not that I do not understand them, but rather it is far too complex to comprehend,” she told him, her heart thrumming with renewed hope.
Godric’s eyes took on an odd glint that whispered danger, but he did not do anything strange or abrupt. He merely shook his head and said,
“If you do not understand them, then you do not. They are not difficult to comprehend as you claim.”
“So, tell me then. What are they? What sort of feeling makes you emotional, Your Grace? We are all slaves to an emotion – some more than others. It is a completely human thing. I will not judge you, no matter what it might be. You can trust that whatever you say, I will never speak to another soul.” Nora pledged.
“That’s enough. Let us speak of this no more.” He stated, rising to his feet.
He began to walk to the door, but Nora was quick and persistent, with no intention to back down after getting so close.
“What are you afraid of? Do you think you will be seen differently if I know who you really are? I doubt there is anything you could say or do that could surprise me, because you do not seem at all remarkable. Do not think too much and just – tell me,” She fussed, following him.
The duke stopped suddenly, and she had to catch herself to keep from bumping into him, jumping slightly when he faced her.
“There is only one emotion every man feels. As you said, it is in the base of our nature as humans to fall prey to our emotions, some more than others. But there is a single one that every man is weak to. Lust. And that is what you should be careful of, Miss Nora.”
Heat rushed to Nora’s cheeks, and although her instincts told her to back away and put an end to this charade, she could not help but ask,
“And you… as well? Do you feel this emotion too?”
Godric’s gaze dropped to her lips, and when they rise back to her eyes, she could not help but notice how rigid her form looked. After what feels like ages, he replied, voice hoarse,
“Yes.”
Nora felt the air around them grow heavier. Try as she might, she could not seem to take enough into her lungs, each inhale and exhale feeling like a chore. She had come so far, but it was not nearly enough still.
“What… what does it feel like?”
Godric looked even tenser now, and she half expected him to chase her away then. But he curled his hands into tight fists, and he replied through a strangled voice,
“It feels as though your veins are on fire. You lose reason, and all common sense flees. All you know in that moment is the object of your desire and the yearning burning within you. You’ll try to fight it, to resist it as best as you can. And maybe you’ll succeed at first. But later, you will learn that no one wins against this feeling.”
As he spoke, he stepped closer and closer toward her, the shrinking distance between them stifling her breath. His words ignited a flame within her, setting loose an appetite she did not know she had, only heavily aware of the hunger and yearning that was slowly consuming her.
